Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D98176-4
Date(s)
- 1956-04-11 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Cheney Lumber Co.; packages of two by four "Cheney Studs" being readied for shipment in the railroad cars behind. Ben Cheney got his start in the lumber business in 1936 during the depression. By the late 1930's, he was supplying railroad ties nationally and internationally. Cheney was wholesaling the production of 140 portable mills throughout the northwest, selling their ties on a commission basis. As timber became more difficult to obtain cheaply, he became concerned over the side-cut slab wastage, often 2/3 of the log. He came up with the idea of supplying the housing market with standard 8 foot studding, the same length as railroad ties were cut. He even obtained a lower transportation cost from the Interstate Commerce Commission, making production even more economical. Cheney renamed the "shorts," as these 8 foot pieces had been called, "Cheney Studs." Studs became the standard in the building trade and Cheney is credited with standardizing the roof height in US residential construction. ("The Sou'wester" Volume xxxv, Number 3, Fall 2000)
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lumberyards--Tacoma; Lumber--Tacoma; Building materials industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Cheney Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;